Three
college friends, one each from the Universities of Oxford,
Cambridge and Loughborough, decided to pool their funds
and go to the Olympics in Barcelona. The airfare and hotel
rates ate up most of their money so they didn't have enough
to get into the stadium to see the events.

So they stood around the gate, watching all the other people
get in and then noticed that some people didn't have to
pay. Whenever an athlete passed the guard with his (or her)
equipment, the guard would simply nod and let them through.
So the three visitors quickly trotted off to a nearby hardware
shop and came back to try to get in.

The Oxford student walked up to the guard and gestured at
the long pole he carried. "Pole vaulting," he
said, and the guard waved him through.

The Cambridge student, having rigged up a ball to a length
of chain, approached the guard next and showed of his wares.
"Hammer throwing," he said, and the guard shrugged
and waved him through.

The catering student from Loughborough came last, with a
roll of chain link on his shoulder. "Fencing."